Did you know that is takes over 100 volunteers to put on one of our fishing events?

Volunteers are needed in the following categories

Set up- Volunteers are needed for both Friday night and Saturday morning to help set things up with the event, including, tables, chairs & equipment.

Registration- Registration volunteers will need to arrive by 7 am Saturday morning (for our Spring Event only) Volunteers are needed to help get participants registered Saturday morning. Participants will start arriving at 8am or so. We verify that our forms are completed and signed by both participants and their medical assistants. We would then provide the participant and medical assistant with a t-shirt and ask them to put it on immediately, as this helps us identify what everyone's role is at the event. From registrations, our participants move over to have a boat assigned to them, if a boat is available and they have indicated that they want to fish from a boat. If they wish to fish from a bank, they would move directly to be assigned a fishing assistant. After registration is over, our registration volunteers do an inventory of all the leftover shirts and supplies and load them up for the next event.

Fishing Assistant- The funnest job at the event! What does your day look like as a fishing asst? In the morning you will arrive (around 7am for our Spring event), get registered and given a volunteer bag (that will need to be returned to us at the end of the day) and have a brief orientation at 7:30. The participants will start arriving around 8:00. As the participants make their way through the registration process they will be assigned a boat captain and a fishing assistant. Please remember which boat number and who your captain is. At this point most participants will want to grab some breakfast which we would encourage you to do with them, at this point the boat captains will go get their boats ready. After breakfast you will meet back up with the boat captain and head over to the equipment station to get everything you need for a fun day of fishing. Your bag that was given to you when you registered will contain the following- a fishing kit, extra hooks, a pair of needle nose pliers, a tape measure or ruler, a pen, plastic gloves,snacks, a fishing license exemption form from ODNR, a form to keep track of all the fish that are caught, a map of Hoover Reservoir and a paper with some general instructions on it, etc. It should also contain some band aids and hand sanitizer. If there is anything that is missing please let the people at the equipment station know and they will get it for you. At the equipment station, you will be provided with a fishing pole, bait and a life jacket for the participant and a cooler with ice and bottled water. All participants are required to wear a life jacket at all times while fishing at the event. Life jackets for volunteers and medical assistants will be provided on the boats, volunteers and medical assistants are not required to wear their life jackets, but encouraged to do so. You will then load onto the boat, following your captain for which dock to load from. Make sure someone on land has your cell phone number. While you are fishing make sure to record to take plenty of photos of the fun . Lunch will start being served around 1 PM, Once you arrive back on land, please check in with the equipment station and make sure all equipment has been returned, including the bag. Also give your sheet with all the fish caught to someone in an orange shirt (FHNB board member). Then it's time for a nice lunch with your new fishing buddy and hopefully boat captain. During lunch, awards will be handed out to all participants. All participants will receive a medallion, awards will also be given for most fish caught, biggest fish and smallest fish. After the awards are handed out, its time for a big group picture. Once the event is over, please email the photos you took of the event to jeff.guminey@fhnbcentralohio.org

Photographer- If you are not a fisherman, but would still like to help be part of the action, we always need someone to walk around taking photos of the event.

Food Services- We need folks to help prepare and serve food. Please see Steve Holtzapfel at the event if you would like to help.

Tear down- We will start tearing down the event, from an equipment standpoint as the boats start returning. We also need help tearing down tables and chairs and cleaning up the Buckeye Boat Club. Volunteers that can only help with tear down should plan to arrive around 12:30 and plan on staying until about 3:00 (for our Spring Event)

Volunteer Forms- Please print out and bring them with you to the event

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do I know if my registration has been selected?Registrations for this years' Spring Event were accepted until May 18, we have made every effort to contact all participants to let them know that they have been confirmed, if you have any questions please send an email to info@fhnbcentralohio.com

What time should I arrive?Volunteers should arrive between 8:00-9:00 for our Fall Event,Participants should arrive between 8:30 AM and 9:30 AM.

What do I need to bring?Volunteers should bring a cell phone and make sure someone on land has the number to reach you. If you do not have a smart phone, we would like for volunteers to take some pictures, so please bring a camera if you can. Fishing assistants will be provided with all the basic fishing tackle needed, if you have any specials tackle that you would like to bring, feel free. Participants should bring anything they would need out of medical necessity, including medications, supplies and or food. If you would like to bring and use your own fishing pole or tackle, feel free to.

How long does the event last?Volunteers should plan on spending a pretty full day with us if you can, all tear down and clean up is typically done by 3 PM. Participants should plan on the event lasting until about 2 PM.

Why is everyone wearing different colored shirts? Everyone at the event will be provided with a color coded shirt and it is very important that you put your shirt on immediately. Your shirt color shows everyone what your role in the event is. Red- participants, Light Blue- Boat Captains, Dark Blue- Caregivers, Purple- volunteers, Orange- FHNB Board Members (most likely to have an answer to your question and have a walkie talkie). If you have your shirt from last year, unless your role in the event has changed, please wear it, that helps us save costs.

Do I need a fishing license to participate in the event? Thanks to a one day exemption from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, everyone in the event, whether they are a participant or assistant are able to fish without a fishing license. The fishing assistants all have a copy of the exemption from ODNR.

Can we keep the fish? Although a fish fry sounds really amazing, all of our events are all catch and release.

Where are the events located? Our Spring event is located at the Buckeye Boat Club, which is located at 6510 Walnut Valley Drive, Galena, OH. Our Fall event is located at Fryer Park in Grove City, OH